We will be spending a short time in Germany and want to show our kids, ages 9,11,& 13 some castles and Munich. We will only have 2 days to spend in Munich and then we will go to the Rhine and take the classic boat tour from Bacharach to St. Goar to view castles. Should we use one of our Munich days to take a bus tour down to see King Ludwig's castles? Are they interesting to kids? Which castles along the Rhine should we get off the boat and hike up to see?

My all-time favorite German castle is Burg Eltz, near the Mosel River. Perhaps that's out of the way for you, but it's authentic and really beautiful.

I would definitely take a Munich day to see Ludwig's castles. I think you kids would especially enjoy Neuschwanstein,the castle after which Disneyland was modeled. It's really over-the-top. Personally, I was a bit bored on that Rhine cruise. If they were my kids, I'd take them to Neuschwanstein and also Schloss Linderhof, which is equally over-the-top. There is also a Moorish kiosk and Ludwig's underground grotto through which he (and now you and your kids) could ride in a swan boat.

Lots more fun than a Rhine cruise.

Maybe they'd have fun at Burg Rheinfels on the Rhine River. It's totally in ruins and theres a lot of it. On the morning we visited there were a couple of kids and their dog and they seemed to be having fun.
Of course, they weren't running wild but they were able to let out some energy I don't think they could get out at Neuschwanstein.

I like Neuschawanstein and I'm looking forward to seeing the Burg Eltz.
The tour of Neuschawanstien is interesting and very short.

Definitely take the kids to Neuschwanstein! It's what everyone thinks of when they think of a "fairytale castle". While on the tour, encourage your kids to look for swans in all of the rooms (e.g. they are door handles) and let them keep track of how many they find. The tours are good and there are plenty of them offered in English. Schloss Linderhof is good, too, but if you only have time for one castle, make it Neuschwanstein.
I agree with Pegontheroad that your kids will probably be bored on the Rhein cruise. It's a lot of sitting around and looking at scenery with an occasional castle in the distance. As an adult, I enjoyed the relaxing ride, but my kids managed to survive it only because their cousins were visiting us in Germany and they were all talking and catching up--not looking at castles!

Burg Eltz and the Reichsburg on the Mosel and the Marksburg on the Rhine.

If you like ruins, Rheinfels is great. I think it would be good for kids because it's so rugged and you can roam pretty freely. Don't miss the castles!

I remember being bored on a Rhine cruise at around age 10. Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, on the other hand, were fascinating to me even at that age and were the first place I returned in Europe on my own as an adult.

I remember that boat trip as being pretty short (Bach to St. Goar). There is a bar onboard and there is food, snacks and ice cream available. On that stretch you aren't going to be there long enough to get bored. I barely had time to finish my radler!

`Wanting to see a castle and going to Neuschwanstein is like going to Las Vegas and wanting to see the United States. It's phony. Any castle on the Rhein or Mosel would be a real "castle experience".

Curious

Go to Neuschwanstein because it is (maybe because of Disney) the quintissential European castle. While you are there for the day don't miss Hohenschwangau, the castle the Ludwig grew up in that is on the opposite hill. I agree that Linderhof which is about an hour's drive away from Neuschwantein is great too if you can do it.

If you aren't castled out, while you are in Munich you could go to Nymphenberg Palace for more royal digs. Don't miss all the Cinderella coaches in the coach house there

I just returend from Germany last night. I traveled with three teenagers. We hiked to Burg Eltz, road the boat from Bacharach to St. Goar, and did some of the castles in Bavaria. The hike would be fun for your kids, but it is on the Mosel River. The day we did it we road the boat to St. Goar and then took the train to Moselkern and hiked to the castle (90 minutes one way). We returned by train to Bacharach that evening. It was not difficult and my kids enjoyed the weather and the hike through the hills and woods along the stream. We all went to Neuschwanstein, but the two girls did not want to go to Linderhof, which is probably my favorite of the castles. There is a luge next to Neuschwanstein that your children might like to ride. We road one in Austria nd loved it!

That luge ride is by the Tegelberg Gondola and is very close to those castles. It was A LOT of fun.

Do you think the luge will be open in late October?